Reviewed by Matt Boettcher

Tandoori Grill

808 Bethel Rd.

Columbus, OH

614-326-3777

If you can handle a little heat, Tandoori Grill might just the best Indian food you’ll find here in Columbus. Their website says, “brace yourself for a culinary master class – a festival of flavors in every forkful – and allow yourself to be swept away by the exotic aromas and tastes of truly outstanding Indian-Pakistani cuisine.” This is a bold claim, but they deliver.

Tandoori Grill has an attractive but casual setting centered around a beautifully painted wall and several eye-catching light fixtures. We walked in for lunch at 11:20, about 10 minutes before they officially opened, but they kindly accommodated us anyway.

We ordered my son Isaac a delicious mango lassi while we looked over the menu which included all the classics I expected and a few things I hadn’t heard of before. Considering the quality of food they were boasting, I was pleased with the middle-of-the-road prices.

We started with potato samosas and fish pakora and then moved on to chicken tikka masala and goat korma with an order of plain naan. Everything was perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned, certainly among the best, if not the best I have had in Columbus. I do feel compelled to offer one caveat. See those peppers in the bottom right of the menu, I think they are there for a reason. Even though we ordered traditionally mild dishes, like chicken tikka masala and asked for them to be mild, all of the dishes we ordered, the potato samosas, the fish pakora, the chicken tikka masala, and the goat korma were all unpalatably spicy with no indication on the menu that this would be the case. Make no mistake, this food tasted amazing and if you enjoy spicy foods you will love it. Spiciness aside, I really did enjoy our experience.